Monday, August 23, 2004

Do-it-yourself home-sale considerations

Should you represent yourself in a real estate deal?

A couple who was trying to save money buying a new home and selling the old one decided to do it on their own, without hiring a real estate broker. The husband figured it would be easy. He was commercial real estate salesperson. How difficult could it be to sell residential?

He wrote an offer on a listing that he and his wife wanted to buy. He told the sellers that he had already accepted an offer to sell his home. His buyers had already done their inspections, and there were no contingencies remaining in the contract. It was a sure thing.

The next morning, he had to call the listing agent of the home he wanted to buy to inform her that the buyers of his home were renegotiating the selling price of his home based on defects discovered during inspections. Unfortunately, he had to withdraw from the contract on the home he had wanted to buy. The deal on his house wasn't the sure thing that he thought it was.

More than four of every five sellers employ a real estate agent to sell their home, according to the National Association of Realtors. For those sellers who chose to represent themselves, the primary motivation for not using a real estate agent is to save money. However, more than half the sellers who try to sell their own home fail.